ULAN BATOR, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's economic growth is expected to be moderate but remain solid in 2019 and 2020 as the country moves to a more sustainable growth path, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecast on Wednesday.
According to the latest Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2019, the ADB's flagship economic publication, economic growth in Mongolia will be at 6.7 percent in 2019 and 6.1 percent in 2020. The growth of the Asian country's mining-dependent economy was 6.9 percent in 2018.
"Mongolia's economic growth was faster than expected in the first half of 2019," Yolanda Fernandez Lommen, ADB country director for Mongolia, said while delivering the ADO.
The Asian country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2019 to 8.6 trillion Mongolian tugriks (3.2 billion U.S. dollars).
The country's growth prospects continue to be positive going into 2019 and 2020, although external shocks will have an impact on Mongolia's export sector, according to the bank.
"Mongolia remains vulnerable to external shocks, particularly in the commodity sector, so sensible macroeconomic policies that allow the country to build up buffers will help reduce Mongolia's vulnerability to boom-bust cycles going forward," said Lommen.
The country director added that structural reforms, particularly in the banking sector, remain important, and using this high growth period to address these issues would make sense.
The ADB, based in the Philippine capital Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia through inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth, and regional integration.
Established in 1966, the ADB has 68 members, including 49 from within the Asia-Pacific region. In 2018, the bank made commitments of new loans and grants amounting to 21.6 billion dollars.
